The World Cup commences on June 14 - under three months away - and England have been drawn in Group G along with Belgium, Panama and Tunisia.

Southgate's side are scheduled to play their first game at the tournament on June 18, against Tunisia.

Are other countries boycotting the World Cup?

It remains to be seen whether other countries will join the UK in their boycott of FIFA's showpiece event, but it is possible.

Spanish newspaper AS reports that FIFA is in a 'state of panic' over the escalating tensions because the threat of more nations following suit puts the event at risk.

As mentioned, Labour Co-op MP John Woodcock has already made the point that the British government should seek support from its allies in NATO.

NATO members include the likes of Belgium, Germany, France and Spain, who, like England, are also major players in the world of football.

Have previous World Cups been boycotted?

Yes, the history of the World Cup has been marked by a variety of boycotts for different reasons.

Interestingly, Uruguay, the inaugural hosts and winners of the competition back in 1930, declined the invitation to participate in the following edition, which was held in Italy in 1934. The reason for the rejection was in protest at the lack of teams to travel from Europe in 1930.

England, as well as Scotland, Wales and Ireland, also declined the opportunity to compete, preferring to play in the now defunct British Home Championship.

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Uruguay continued their protest against the World Cup in 1938 and they were joined by fellow South Americans Argentina, who were left reeling when France was awarded the hosting rights ahead of them.

While it was not strictly a boycott, the case of India and the 1950 World Cup is worth mentioning. FIFA interestingly ruled that India would not be allowed to play barefoot and the myth went that the ruling was the reason for their non-participation. However, it was subsequently found that India did not feel the tournament was worth playing in.

The 1966 World Cup in England was boycotted by an entire continent - Africa - when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) objected to what they felt was a systemic unfairness in the allocation of places in the final tournament. African teams were expected to compete with teams from Asia and Oceania for a single place, so the CAF withdrew teams from qualifying in 1964. Considering that there were 10 teams from Europe, four from South America and one from central America, they may have had a point.